N.C. Senate Leader Phil Berger, left, remains 23 votes behind his primary challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, after an initial machine recount in Rockingham and Guilford Counties. (Berger photo courtesy of NC General Assembly; Page photo courtesy of his campaign)
A sample hand-eye recount conducted Tuesday morning in Guilford and Rockingham counties did not find any additional votes for longtime Republican North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger, who continues to trail his primary challenger, Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page, by 23 votes.
The votes were already recounted using voting tabulators with no change to the margin. As allowed by law, Berger requested a sample hand-eye recount to double-check the machine results.
Guilford County election workers conduct a partial recount of ballots cast in the Senate District 26 race. (Photo: Guilford Co. Board of Elections live stream)Under state law, the North Carolina Board of Elections randomly selects 3% of precincts in a contested race. It selected two precincts in Guilford and one in Rockingham, totaling about 1,300 votes out of the more than 26,000 cast in the primary.
Guilford’s recount found no errors. Neither did Rockingham’s.
By law, a full hand-eye recount isn’t conducted unless the sample recount finds a large enough deviation from the machine recount to change the outcome of the race if extrapolated across the rest of the precincts in the district. In this case, Berger needed to pick up two votes to proceed to a full recount.
However, the race is still not settled. Berger has also filed protests amounting to 13 votes, saying some voters were given incorrect ballots and others were either improperly allowed to vote or prevented from casting a vote. Both county boards will hear evidence in those protests in the coming days.
Berger has also asked the State Board of Elections to order a full hand-eye recount of 217 ballots that voting tabulators rejected as undervotes or overvotes.
An undervote is when a voter appears not to have voted in a race. The voter may not have fully marked the ballot, or may simply have opted not to vote in that race. An overvote is when there are marks besides both candidates. Sometimes, voters can vote for more candidates than allowed, or start marking one name, then change their mind.
“These overvotes and undervotes could very likely determine the outcome of this race,” Berger wrote in his request.
The state board declined to consider Berger’s request. State elections director Sam Hayes said there’s no provision in state voting that specifically allows it. Berger has argued the board has the authority to order such a recount, anyway, but Page said that would amount to special treatment.
Berger, who’s led the Republican majority in the state Senate since 2011, has also filed an election complaint against the Page campaign, alleging voter intimidation. Page has denied any wrongdoing.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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